


A Nightmare Of Losing You

by kittydoesstuff



Category: Great Pretender (Anime)
Genre: Arguments, Blood, Death Of A Character Of color, Death Of Major Charcters, Edamura Makoto POV, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Laurent does really care he's just bad with being honest about just how much he cares, M/M, Mentioned Abby Jones, Mentioned Cynthia Moore, Nightmare TWs, Nightmares, Note: This isn't a fully shipping fic it can also be read as friendship, TWs for irl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittydoesstuff/pseuds/kittydoesstuff
Summary: Makoto Edamura still has nightmares about the faked deaths of Laurent & Aby, he very well knows that those "deaths" weren't real it had been years since it happened, but the tossing and turning as Makoto tried to sleep was very much real.One night Laurent couldn't help but notice the tossing and turning of Edamame, so asks him if his okay.
Relationships: Edamura Makoto & Laurent Thierry, Edamura Makoto/Laurent Thierry
Comments: 9
Kudos: 118





	A Nightmare Of Losing You

_Where am I?_ Those are the thoughts running through Makoto’s head as he was wandering through what looked like a very large house or was it a hotel? He couldn’t tell all he did understand was that he was in a hallway with many doors though only one looked like a real door, the rest looked to be made out of cardboard.

He slowly opened the real door, as he did he saw the inside was dark but looked like his old family home or maybe it looked more like his old cell mixed with his old bedroom from childhood. No matter what old room it looked like to him, he could tell something was wrong even before he could see it, a sick feeling over took him as the light from the hall flooded into the room enlightening him to what was wrong.

A pool of red was what reflected the light from the hall forcing Makoto to have to pay it the attention he didn’t want to give it, it was a pool of blood and as his eyes went wide with a mix of fear and morbid curiosity he saw where the blood was coming from, Aby looked like she had tried to run but was shot and laying over her body, almost seemly protecting it from Makoto’s eyes was Laurent’s body with a small hole it’s head, dripping blood.

“This isn’t real, this- this is a act, right? Guys? I’m right- this is an act, guys? Guy- GUYS” Makoto was tripping over his own words as he was nearly tripping getting over to the bodies, he put his hand on Aby’s arm to try to stake it but felt it ice cold.

Makoto let out a wail with tears starting to form and fall down his face, he started to feel like he was falling into despair but when his body hit the floor of the hotel room and his eyes opened it became clear it was just a normal fall off a bed.

“AHHHhh- Huh?” Makoto looked around the hotel room, everything was just like had been when he had fallen asleep, he could feel that his eyes within real life had start to get wet when within his nightmare he had started to crumble into a mess, he could feel his chest move in and outwards much faster than it normally would as he tried to breathe.

“Edamame? Are you okay? You sounded like you were being chased or something, I'm guessing you had some kind of _horrible_ nightmare.” Makoto sat up and looked over to where he heard Laurent’s ever calm voice, Laurent was sitting up on his own bed with a book in his hands leaning onto the headboard of the bed.

“Oh… yeah i had a nightmare-” Makoto got up from the floor and now was standing in the space between the two beds “-and yeah it was horrible! You don’t need to sound cocky that I had a bad dream.” Makoto huffed, crossing his arms and turned his head away from Laurent's gaze.

“Edamame… mind me asking what it was about? I promise that I won’t judge, I’ve had some odd nightmares Myself in the past.” Makoto, despite the fact he was looking at the art hanging on the wall behind his own bed could feel Laurent's gaze become more intense, like he was staring through Makoto.

“It was stupid-” Makoto turned his head back over to Laurent, only to see that Laurent’s face was lacking it’s normal calm smlie and instead had a frown “-So don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worrying about it, I’ve just heard that sometimes talking about a nightmare can help it not come back, I’m sure in the past you’ve told _someone_ about a nightmare and then it didn’t come back, meanwhile you’ve also probably had nightmares that you kept having that you didn’t tell anyone about. I mean it’s your sleep at the end of the day, so I don’t mind if you don’t share, just don’t complain if you’ve left behind because you needed a _nap_.”

Makoto glared down at Laurent who had regained that calm smile of his, it was hard to see the details of Laurent besides his head due to the fact that the room was only being lit from the large window far behind the beds and a lamp on Laurent’s bedside, in spite of that Makoto could see some kind of look in Laurent’s eyes but he couldn't really tell what said look was.

“Fine, you wanna hear about it?” Laurent nodded as Makoto sat down on his own bed “It was about you and Abby dying.” Makoto once again turned his own gaze away from Laurent and to somewhere else, this time his own headboard.

“Oh-” Makoto could hear Laurent shift from his half sitting half lying pose to actually fullying sitting across from him “Makoto I-... I’m guessing me and Abby “died” like how we “died” back in LA? I didn’t realize that’d even still stick out in your mind after all this time-”

“Of course it did, i thought i had gotten two people i cared about killed.” Makoto turned back to face Laurent sharply “Maybe for **you** it was just some fun con, or “necessary”-” Makoto added air quotes to necessary “-evil, but for me i really thought i had seen you two get shot! I hadn’t ever seen something like that in real life before! I nearly shot Cynthia all because you “just” had to be SMARTER THAN ME!” Makoto pushed up and off his bed and grabbed Laurent by the collar on his way up to standing, leaving Laurent weakly on up on his feet so he wouldn’t pull the pair down onto the floor with his body weight.

“I didn’t think it’d affect you like how it has, I’m- I wasn’t trying to be smarter than you, you know that. You must have had quite the nightmare to bring all this anger back…”

Makoto’s gaze moved away from Laurent’s eyes down to his chin, he just couldn’t make eye contact any longer.

“Makoto, it’s okay if you’re upset I’m sorry I kept asking to hear about this dream since it seems like it’s… my fault that it’s even a nightmare you’re having.”

“Huh?-” Makoto looked back up to Laurent’s eyes, which had a glint of _something_ “You’re sorry? I- uh- what? You never say sorry, you haven’t been replaced by someone, right? Say something only the real Laurent would know!”

Laurent got properly onto his feet as he brushed Makoto’s hands off his collar “Believe it or not I’m very much the same Laurent you know and love, anyways like I said I’m sorry, I thought talking about it might help but all it seems to have done is make you angry.”

“You’re differently Laurent, only he’d have the nerve to say “know and _love_ ” right now… Uh sorry i grabbed you…”

“Oh it’s fine, really, better to get your feelings out than try to hide them, at least in this case. Now maybe you’d like to sit down, instead of this standoff between our beds.”

Makoto only then really noticed how close the pair of them had been standing together since behind the both of them was their bed it left very little room for them to stand. Makoto sat back down on his bed and watched Laurent sit down next to him.

“...” The silence between the two of them felt like a looming storm to Makoto so he decided to break it after a small moments

“In my dream, I was in- I dunno I guess hotel? I went into a room- i can’t remember what it looked like, anyway that’s- that’s where i saw you and Abby’s bodies, I- I thought it was fake-”

“It was a _dream_ though, you were right.”

“Hey don’t interrupt! I mean fake in the world of the dream, I couldn't tell it was “real” til I was touching one of the bodies and it was cold…”

“I guess that’s one of the few downsides of being a confidence man, sometimes it becomes hard to tell what’s the truth and what’s a lie when it comes to your fellow confidence men.” Laurent spoke in a warm tone and from the corner of his eye Makoto could see that Laurent was once again gazing at him.

“Have you ever ended up not being able to tell what was an act versus reality? It’s kinda of hard to think of you getting tricked but still...” Makoto has doubts that Laurent even knew what it was really like to be tricked, maybe taken off guard but not tricked.

“More than you’d think, though more recently I don’t think I’ve been tricked by anyone, though that doesn’t mean I haven’t wondered if something is true or not but that's not due to any tricks from anyone else.”

“Really? You used to get tricked?”

“Yes, I mean do you think I was born a confidence man? There’s a point in everyone’s life where they’re made out to be a fool for someone else’s gain, even in mine.”

“Who even? To be honest I’d love to meet them, maybe some tips.” Makoto’s joking tone and elbowing of Laurent was clearly unaware of the small grimace on Laurent’s face.

“It doesn’t really matter, to be honest even if I wanted to I’d be unable to find them, anyway the point was this: Yes I’ve been tricked before like you, and made out to be a fool. And before you ask, no I wouldn’t give any more details.”

“Huh-” Makoto let out a small giggle “-Y’know hearing that _you’ve_ been made a fool before somehow cheers me up.”

“That’s called schadenfreude, I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better though would you mind asking something? It has to do with your dream Edamame.”

“Go ahead and shoot.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were still dealing with trauma from the faked deaths in LA, if I knew I w- You know that I care about your well being, right?” Laurent’s voice was lacking the calm-cocky tone it normally had and instead sounded much more gunnuie.

“You… You know i think that’s the first time you’ve said something like that.”

“First time you’ve _noticed_.”

“What?”

“Anyways you didn’t answer my question, why did you keep it to yourself?”

“Oh right that, I mean it had been a few years since the whole LA thing when i saw you guys again, i didn’t really think it was bothering me but then we all spend more time together as a group and i dunno stuff like learning that Abby had wanted to die or cons where we’ve pissed off really powerful people, i guess i’m just worried- worried… just worried i guess, id dunno about what.”

“I think I get it Makoto, you’ve come to care about our little rag-tag team of con-artists, haven’t you?”

“I… Y’know what yeah, I mean I don’t think I’ve had one peaceful day with you guys but I also haven’t felt lonely around you all, like don’t get Me wrong you guys have your problems and it’d be nice to live an honest life but… Yeah i care about you guys and i guess I’m- I’m scared to lose you guys.” 

Makoto was a bit taken it back from his own honesty but that was how truly felt, he cared about the team and was scared of losing people he cared for again, maybe that was why what happened in LA still stuck out to him, he thought he had lost Appy and Laurent and then held a gun to Cynthia’s head, someone who at this point he really cared about.

“Hey, don’t worry the last thing I’d let happen is something happening to my team, you don’t need to worry about it, okay?” Laurent sounded like he was being honest, which was rare for him even when he was telling the truth it’d sometimes sound more like a lie.

“What about you though? I mean i know you can take care of yourself but by the sounds of it you’d risk yourself for the rest of the team, meaning i still have to worry, just more about you than the others.” The matter of fact, Makoto catched Laurent off guard, Makoto could see that Laurent’s eyes went a bit wide with what looked to be a bit of stock.

“Worry…? About Me? I don’t think you understand, I don’t need to have people worry about me, I don’t… want you to worry about me of all people…” Laurent had a grim tone in his voice as he spoke.

“Why not? I mean we’re working together, we have to act out plans together and we’re meant to trust each other at least a little bit so why can’t I worry about one of my friends who, may I remind you, I’ve already thought in the past died because of me!” There was a mix of anger and guilt in Makoto’s words, but also care.

“You do know that even if that had been real it wouldn’t have been your fault, right? I mean all you did was do what you thought it’d take to survive-”

“But that’s not how I like to act! I didn’t like what I was doing! I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do! What kind of coward puts only himself firs-” Makoto couldn’t finish what he was saying as he felt himself being pulled to Laurent’s chest, Laurent was hugging him.

“Makoto don’t ever feel guilty for putting yourself first, there are a lot of people who’d take that as an excuse to screw other people over for no good reason but I know you’re not one of those people, you’re good natured and mostly honest. Someone like you needs to watch out for himself.” Laurent sounded honestly a bit mad, though it didn’t sound like he was mad at Makoto

“I know I need to watch out for Myself, what do you think I’ve been doing a good chunk of My life? I just don’t like the idea that when push came to shove I was willing to sell you two out and that had it been real you two could have very well lost your lifes, I mean how do you forgive someone for being that kind of coward?”

“While I forgive you, not that I was mad in the first place. Makoto if it ever really came down to it, I’d want you to look out for yourself even if it meant I had to deal with more problems or danger, I care about you, I’m not quite sure what I’d do if you got yourself killed or something.”

“I’m not really sure what **I’d** do if you decided to try to play the hero for once and got hurt yourself.” Makoto didn’t mean to, but he started to hug back, a bit tight even.

“Hmm seems like we’ve come to a bit of a small problem here, you don’t want to see any of the people you’re working with come to harm, meanwhile i’m willing to be in harm's way for the rest of you, the simple thing would to just stay out of danger but where’s the fun in that?”

“We could just watch out for each other…” Makoto murmured into Laurent’s chest.

“Huh? Makoto I couldn’t quite hear you, but it sounded like you said something kind of sally to say to a fellow confidence man.”

“Hey! Don’t be a jerk right now! I’m not saying we shouldn’t look out for ourselves but… I mean we both seem to not like the idea of looking out for yourselves over others, it’s not like trusting the other to look out is going to do much damage.” Makoto could feel Laurent’s hold get a bit tighter, holding Makoto closer to himself.

“You have a point… Sure, let’s look out for each other” Laurent spoke softly and layed his head on the top of Makoto’s head, leading in his hair.

“Say… Are you feeling better now that you talked about it?”

“Huh? Oh yeah right! I had almost forgotten that i had even had a nightmare, heh yeah I’m feeling better… Just one thing.”

“What?”

“Don’t fake your death again without letting me know ahead of time, I don’t wanna nearly shot someone again.”

“Of course”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laurent couldn’t sleep, he had kept remembering things as he tried to sleep that were keeping him up, so he decided to read to try to calm down so he wouldn’t have that nightmare again.

As he was trying to read he heard some noises from Edamame’s bed, it wasn’t the first time that while sharing a room with him that Laurent heard Edamame moving around seemly having a nightmare himself, this night sounded a bit worse than normal.

“This isn’t real, this- this is a act, right?” Quietly but worried came out of Makoto’s mouth and soon he was rolling around on his bed, Laurent almost left his own bed to try to wake Edamame up but before he could Edamame rolled off his bed.

““AHHHhh- Huh?” 

“Edamame? Are you okay? You sounded like you were being chased or something, I'm guessing you had some kind of **horrible** nightmare.” Laurent asked, being tired of Edamame keeping what was bothering him to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> When i was watching the show i couldn't help but think that Makoto would likely have some trauma from thinking he had got people killed and then find out he held a gun to a innocent woman's head, so i wrote this.


End file.
